Harold Wayne Lewis, of Taylors, a retired international missionary and writer, died Oct. 19, 2008, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease.
Lewis was a native of Hamilton, Ohio. He was ordained to the ministry in 1950. He was a graduate of Furman University and Southern Baptist Seminary.
He pastored churches in Indiana and South Carolina, and served as a church planter in establishing a church in Ohio with the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board).
Lewis and his wife, Martha, were appointed by the International Mission Board as foreign missionaries in 1968 and served in Trinidad, West Indies, and in Suriname, South America, for a total of 29 years. He served as a field evangelist, which included planting churches, writing training and study materials in English and Dutch, and training pastors for the churches he helped plant.
He compiled a Dutch topical concordance, and he wrote and published “A Basic Beliefs Study Guide,” “A Short History of Baptists” and “How They Got to Suriname.” During his retirement, he enjoyed a ministry of encouraging young men as they sought God’s will in preparing for the ministry.
Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Martha T. Lewis, four children, 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.